Exit strategy: Emergency response to Damar Hamlin resonates with racing’s safety teams

NASCAR Cup Series driver Ty Gibbs steps away from his car after it ignited during a practice session for the Clash at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Racing operations officials, track safety officials and motorsports series medical directors shared more about what happens if an emergency situation like Hamlin’s were to happen at a local racetrack or a venue on their calendar. For events on temporary street circuits like Long Beach, which hosts IndyCar, IMSA, Stadium Super Trucks and more, street races “don’t have the best ingress and egress to get in and out of,” said Tim Baughman, IndyCar’s senior director of track safety and medical services. “It’s all a calculus on what is the quickest way to get the patient to the Level I trauma center,” said Dr. Phillip Surface, NHRA’s medical director and on-site medical services leader at national events. When the Coliseum, which hosted its second Clash on Feb. 5, or any new track joins the schedule, series like NASCAR and IndyCar tour each facility before any on-track activity to view minute details and walk through the emergency plan, such as: the rooms where drivers would be taken which medical personnel will accompany the driver who will transport the family members “Our model, the care center is staffed by doctors and nurses from a local regional medical facility.